Eyewitness: Another man arrested on Flight 253?
posted at 4:54 pm on December 28, 2009 by Allahpundit
Verrry interesting. This is Kurt Haskell, the same guy who claimed he saw an Indian man trying to talk security into letting Abdulmutallab on the plane without a passport; skip ahead to around 3:15 and listen to him explain how that wasn’t the only Indian (Pakistani?) man who figured into the day’s events and how the contraption taped to the bomber’s crotch might not have been the only explosives on board. Remember, according to yet another passenger, there was a third man on the plane who was “very calmly” videotaping the entire flight, including the moment when the passengers jumped the bomber. Sounds like he’s not the same guy as the mysterious Indian man described by Haskell, as the latter was supposedly arrested on the spot whereas the former was allegedly allowed to leave and is now being sought by the feds. How big of a cell was on this flight, exactly?
Another question: When Haskell talks at the end about the FBI moving the passengers because there was a safety risk, were they still on the plane at the time or had they already gotten off? It sounds like they were already in the terminal or some holding area, but if that’s true, why would there still be a threat from a bomb possibly hidden in the luggage? Presumably the baggage had all been segregated by then. Click the image to watch.
Blowback
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Worse and worse
blatantblue on December 28, 2009 at 4:57 PM
Scary…
Khun Joe on December 28, 2009 at 4:58 PM
Anyone tries any of this crap on my flight to Europe next month is going to fail epically on account of my fists, hopefully a few other passengers
blatantblue on December 28, 2009 at 4:59 PM
I`ve got a bad feeling that something is going to happen.
ThePrez on December 28, 2009 at 4:59 PM
Who is this guy? OJ Simpson?
Obama goes golfing after promising to not rest until the plotters are found.
lorien1973 on December 28, 2009 at 5:00 PM
Me too.
New Years will be interesting.
blatantblue on December 28, 2009 at 5:00 PM
Why video tape a plane ride you don’t expect to survive?
Cindy Munford on December 28, 2009 at 5:01 PM
Present
Mark1971 on December 28, 2009 at 5:01 PM
Now would be an appropriate time to provide revolver training for co-pilots, captains, and check airmen.
blatantblue on December 28, 2009 at 5:02 PM
Presumably. If the holding area was near where the plane was parked, though, perhaps “the system” felt it necessary to move them away from the gate. Just don’t ask me about everyone else at the different gates in the same terminal.
SouthernGent on December 28, 2009 at 5:02 PM
In other news, Nigerian bank scam stocks are down.
The Race Card on December 28, 2009 at 5:02 PM
Oh, and to provide them with revolvers to take on the flights
blatantblue on December 28, 2009 at 5:02 PM
Dude Semi OT:
AQ leaders behind attacks were released from Guantanamo in 2007.
BadgerHawk on December 28, 2009 at 5:03 PM
Don\’t worry. Except for a swim, a workout, a nap, a couple nights sleep, a golf game, a few good meals, maybe a few TV shows, the Obama administration WILL NOT REST until all the suspects are found.
Daggett on December 28, 2009 at 5:03 PM
Only a matter of time. There are many like him. He already succeeded, in so many ways. But for his stupidity did he not succeed all the way.
Schadenfreude on December 28, 2009 at 5:04 PM
So if there was another cell member videotaping the incident, perhaps the explosives were never meant to work, that this was surveillance to see how far the plan could go before either passengers or crew would detect it.
Why vid something when the plane was going to be blown to bits either in the air or from hitting the ground unless it was either an innocent person, or planned?
Bishop on December 28, 2009 at 5:04 PM
Haha. Ask the bomber if he needs “2 tickets to the gun show” beforehand.
Chuck Schick on December 28, 2009 at 5:04 PM
Makes about as much sense as trying to kill a bunch of innocent people on an airplane.
tdau1997 on December 28, 2009 at 5:04 PM
And then he left the golf course for personal
approvalmatters.WashJeff on December 28, 2009 at 5:04 PM
I was wondering that. Maybe he thought it would impress the virgins.
LibTired on December 28, 2009 at 5:05 PM
One change since Dec. 25th, 2009 – travel agencies ask for birthdays for profiles. How is that going to make us a lot more secure?
Schadenfreude on December 28, 2009 at 5:05 PM
In case you fail and you can get the tape uploaded to other terrorists to learn from their failure.
WashJeff on December 28, 2009 at 5:06 PM
Why video tape a plane ride you don’t expect to survive?
Cindy Munford on December 28, 2009 at 5:01 PM
My thought exactly.
fitzsweetpea on December 28, 2009 at 5:06 PM
Makes you wonder how many planes they plan on doing at once. Well, it makes me wonder that. Not the head of Homeland Security, who is probably wondering who is buying Gadsden Flags.
LibTired on December 28, 2009 at 5:08 PM
Possibly he could record it and transfer the video file via wireless internet just before detonation to be later posted on a jihadi website.
Just a thought…
Liberty or Death on December 28, 2009 at 5:08 PM
Obama inherited this Jihad!
Let him eat his pineapple-covered waffles in Honolulu!
profitsbeard on December 28, 2009 at 5:09 PM
To show up the “Chocolate Rain” video?
Chuck Schick on December 28, 2009 at 5:09 PM
That’s the part that makes me skeptical as well.
BadgerHawk on December 28, 2009 at 5:09 PM
Al Qaeda is pretty meticulous. We recently had an incident where a bunch of muslims people made a big scene on a jet in Atlanta.
Now we have someone videotaping reaction to a bomb detonation. Was the video being sent somewhere?
What do you think those other 25 bombers were waiting for? Perhaps Umar was a trial run to gauge the reaction and response.
hawksruleva on December 28, 2009 at 5:10 PM
“Wilma, I promise you, whatever scum did this, not one man on this force will rest for one minute until he’s behind bars. Now let’s get a bite to eat.”
OneGyT on December 28, 2009 at 5:10 PM
If the plane is equiped to offer internet connections to the passengers, it would not be too hard to create a live video stream within the plane. AQ could use the video in its propaganda.
WashJeff on December 28, 2009 at 5:11 PM
What was he shooting with? A cell phone camera, or a cam connected to a laptop could probably send the video signal wirelessly to someone on the ground. In which case a successful bombing gets good video of destruction, and an unsuccessful bombing provides tape for their morning strategy sessions.
hawksruleva on December 28, 2009 at 5:11 PM
The jihadis have frequently videotaped their atrocities for propoganda purposes. And if it was recorded to a memory chip or disc, the video probably would have survived. It could have even been streamed off the plane in real time using the seatback airphone.
cool breeze on December 28, 2009 at 5:12 PM
A bomber mentor,kinda like what Ayers was/is to Obama!!
canopfor on December 28, 2009 at 5:12 PM
I also wonder if the would be bomber was found to under the influence of drugs? There were reports that he was very calm despite third degree burns and drugs as possible reason. I question the intelligence of giving big earth shattering missions to over medicated people. Except, of course, these particular people. For them I encourage more drug use.
Cindy Munford on December 28, 2009 at 5:12 PM
A thought on the videotaping: I gather we don’t exactly know WHO was taping or why? It could be either way, another member of the cell hoping that somehow the vid would make it back to encourage other would-be martyrs. Or, seeing how there is always lots of contradiction in any of these sort of incidents (like that flight in Texas or so where the crew eventually refused to fly and had to be replaced), perhaps someone felt a record might be in order.
If the latter is the case, however, I would think it would have been released to at least someone by this point, unless the Feds got their hands on it immediately and supressed it’s existence, at least until they could study it.
JamesLee on December 28, 2009 at 5:12 PM
Early this morning I read a narrative by a WI couple about the person videotaping. It was not Haskell who I read.
Can anyone finnd that description? I can no longer find it.
ORconservative on December 28, 2009 at 5:13 PM
Better to string them out over a period of time, for the mental effect
blatantblue on December 28, 2009 at 5:13 PM
Let’s not jump to conclusions.
LibTired on December 28, 2009 at 5:13 PM
You know bb, there is NOTHING wrong with profiling. I don’t know if you read about when I went to Germany a few years ago and I told the attendent that the man next to me was creeping me out, to the point that they took him off the plane.
When it comes to living, it is either you… or them. And you aren’t the type to stand there.
upinak on December 28, 2009 at 5:14 PM
Inside job!!
There is a breach,———-PassPortGate!!
canopfor on December 28, 2009 at 5:14 PM
They video guy probably not a terrorist. His is more a youtube guy.
Different people handle stress differently and it depends on their point of view. The video guy is more concern about getting good videos then he is about the plane being blown up.
The passenger that prevented the plane from blowing handle his stress differently. He didn’t ran away or scare stiff from fear. He got pissed off and took him out.
jdun on December 28, 2009 at 5:15 PM
I don’t have all the facts yet, but I’m pretty sure you acted stupidly.
BadgerHawk on December 28, 2009 at 5:15 PM
I feel like I’m living the George Carlin routine about playing spy at the airport. “Now you know there’s a spy at the airport. Your job – find him.” There was another comedian who gave great advice about not fearing a bomb on a plane. “Just bring your own, because what are the odds of having two bombs on the same plane?”
On a serious and scary note, my girlfriend is flying from JFK to Chicago early on New Year’s day, and I am following a few days after. You can bet your sweet a$$ that I will be profiling everyone I see.
Oy gevalt.
J.J. Sefton on December 28, 2009 at 5:15 PM
From an article about some family health issue in the Obama family:
Keep it objective MSM.
WashJeff on December 28, 2009 at 5:15 PM
CAIR lawsuit against Haskell in
3…2…1
walkingboss on December 28, 2009 at 5:16 PM
Depending on the storage media of the camera, it could very well survive a plane crash.
And then, with the American Media it WOULD get leaked, and thus spread more terror.
Al Q understands our media better than most Americans do… if it bleeds, it leads…. and the propoganda value would be immense.
Romeo13 on December 28, 2009 at 5:16 PM
Mystery solved. Everyone go back to sleep.
Cicero43 on December 28, 2009 at 5:16 PM
If the detonator actually works, you’ll have nothing to flail at with your fists except the air, I’m afraid.
And I’ve shot a few photos while on an airliner while I was playing with the settings. And a friend of mine shot a bunch of photos to make a short film on a flight recently from Boston.
Asher on December 28, 2009 at 5:17 PM
Link to Wisconsin account of the videotaping:
http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/80201152.html
cool breeze on December 28, 2009 at 5:17 PM
might have been a present and he was using it
blatantblue on December 28, 2009 at 5:18 PM
ORconservative on December 28, 2009 at 5:13 PM
Here, I think…
http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/80201152.html
Joe Caps on December 28, 2009 at 5:18 PM
well maybe he’ll pull a richard reid and try to light his shoes on fire
buy some time :P
blatantblue on December 28, 2009 at 5:18 PM
So,passengers are ready to roll,the cockpit is secure,
boarding procedures are iffy,and I’ve yet to hear what goes on outside,on the tarmac,around the plane,and loading and
unloading of said plane!
Think of all those operatopns that lead to drug arrests,
when baggage handlers were in cohoots,trafficking,and us
ing the airlines!
Now imagine,a terrorist cells who have infiltrated the
boarding and loading of planes!!
Where there is a will,there is a way!!
canopfor on December 28, 2009 at 5:19 PM
OH THANKS! that’s where I read it.
ORconservative on December 28, 2009 at 5:19 PM
The system that doesn’t work worked.
LibTired on December 28, 2009 at 5:20 PM
El crapo,should be operations,not,(operatopns).
canopfor on December 28, 2009 at 5:20 PM
Shark bump.
thomasaur on December 28, 2009 at 5:21 PM
JUST SHOWS YOU THE SYSTEM WORKS!!!!
SDarchitect on December 28, 2009 at 5:22 PM
Maybe the guy just got the camera for Christmas and was testing it out?
Joe Caps on December 28, 2009 at 5:22 PM
So folks, not that it is a big deal but instead of putting your shoes in the trays now they go directly on the conveyor belt. Don’t you all feel safer?
Cindy Munford on December 28, 2009 at 5:23 PM
Anyone tries any of this crap on my flight to Europe next month is going to fail epically on account of my fists, hopefully a few other passengers
blatantblue on December 28, 2009 at 4:59 PM
blatantblue: May I suggest an idea,when the drink cart
arrives,ask the stewardess,if the plane carries
complimantry fire-extinguishers,(I kid)BB:)
canopfor on December 28, 2009 at 5:23 PM
I give your ability not to contradict yourself in a sentence a good, solid B+.
BadgerHawk on December 28, 2009 at 5:24 PM
How about we just go through the conveyor belt? People with heart monitoring systems be for warned. A little xray doesn’t hurt other then cancer. But it would be better then blowing up… right?
upinak on December 28, 2009 at 5:24 PM
No worries … Europe has already submitted to Muslim rule. No need to blow up any aircraft headed that way.
darwin on December 28, 2009 at 5:24 PM
I still have friends on other blogs defending political correctness and are against profiling. I’m gobsmacked about it.
Does that make me a bad person? I don’t think so, I have a God given right to defend my life and my loved ones’ lives and too bad if it may hurt someone’s feelings. If people of certain racial groups are offended, then blame the bad guys in their faith, not those of us who are simply trying to protect ourselves.
Yes, eventually the bad guys will be successful, I’m afraid.
Lady Heather on December 28, 2009 at 5:25 PM
So folks, not that it is a big deal but instead of putting your shoes in the trays now they go directly on the conveyor belt. Don’t you all feel safer?
Cindy Munford on December 28, 2009 at 5:23 PM
Cindy Munford: Speaking of stinkin feet,I smell a lawsuit
coming from CAIR!!:)
canopfor on December 28, 2009 at 5:25 PM
Uh, guy was videoing the END of a very long flight.
Why have a camera out at all at that point? And if he was playing with it the whole flight… wouldn’t he be running out of power?
As Baby Herman once said so eloquently… “the whole thing stinks like yesterdays diapers”…
Romeo13 on December 28, 2009 at 5:26 PM
The simplest, and most effective thing to do would be profile … you know, use some common sense?
darwin on December 28, 2009 at 5:26 PM
A man videotaped the entire flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, which would have lasted 9 or 10 hours? Why? If he didn’t expect anything to happen, wouldn’t such a tape be very boring, and a colossal waste of several video disks? If Mr. Pants-on-Fire had blown up the plane, wouldn’t the videotape have been lost in the wreckage?
Steve Z on December 28, 2009 at 5:26 PM
upinak on December 28, 2009 at 5:24 PM
They don’t need x-rays to see what is going on under your clothing. There are other x-ray type technologies that can see concealed items without submitting the passenger to x-rays (or harm in any way).
Joe Caps on December 28, 2009 at 5:27 PM
There is certainly some strange stuff coming out, the couple in WI says the guy videotaped the entire flight. That’s a long flight. and he was a couple rows ahead of them who were like 20 rows behind the boom baby. I think that’s what I read. People do wierd things but why would someone tape an 8 hour flight?
Why would that not be mentioned to the authorities on the ground in Detroit or if it was, why wouldn’t they release that info.
I realize that the administration loves their ridiculous lone wolf theories but the other countries involved aren’t participating in that farce.
Also, if Amsterdam doesn’t allow air marshalls and they allow Africans without passports, isn’t that a tiny problem in the system that worked?
ORconservative on December 28, 2009 at 5:28 PM
Yes, let’s please put a premium on political correctness at the expense of effective screening and prevention. /sarc
Perhaps we’ll wonder what went wrong when it’s raining airliner parts over U.S. cities.
Meanwhile, Nero surfs while Rome burns.
hungrymongo on December 28, 2009 at 5:28 PM
No problem, under the New Rules of the healthcare package… the Death Panels won’t be giving out money for pacemakers anyway…
See? Democrat Win/Win!
Romeo13 on December 28, 2009 at 5:28 PM
Reasons AQ might video tape the attack.
1) Stupidity
2) Dry run
3) Live streaming
Exposing the underware bomb on a dry run seems silly. The location of the bomb is irrelevant to how he was handled on the plane.
Is the guy a youtube nut who was overly optimistic that a burning terrorist would fail at blowing the plane out of the sky? Why videotape when you could help subdue him? Stupidity?
csdeven on December 28, 2009 at 5:28 PM
From the Wisconsin account:
What kind of morons let a guy who videotaped the entire flight leave the terminal without a thorough interrogation (and a copy of the tape)?
cool breeze on December 28, 2009 at 5:28 PM
Maybe it was never intended to go off. Just like watching film of your opponents last game … see how they react to certain situations, and figure out a counter.
darwin on December 28, 2009 at 5:28 PM
Oh, and to provide them with revolvers to take on the flights
blatantblue on December 28, 2009 at 5:02 PM
blatantblue: And bullets,jus try’n to help BB!:)
canopfor on December 28, 2009 at 5:28 PM
Well, all this is now officially Yesterday’s News. Drudge Headline says emergency vehicles sped lights on to Obama’s Hawaii neighborhood, where a family friend was injured by a surfboard.
Guess what the lead story will be for the next week?
JamesLee on December 28, 2009 at 5:29 PM
Well maybe he got bored towards the end of the flight, so he took it out.
Just floating a theory here…
Of all days for some dude to be randomly playing with a camera it would make sense for it to be on Christmas, when many people receive them as gifts.
Joe Caps on December 28, 2009 at 5:29 PM
How about this for racial profiling?
You have an english accent. You wear jeans and a t-shirt and easy slip on shoes. You look at someone funny when they make a gesture concerning your appearance or You do not react to people who make the gesture. They will not look you straight in the eye, but make glances at you. You hear a familiar saying and start walking or running very fact the other way.
Who am I profiling?
American Females. Scary?
upinak on December 28, 2009 at 5:30 PM
I don`t jump to conclusions. The conclusions jump to me. :)
ThePrez on December 28, 2009 at 5:31 PM
Next it will be elderly muslim people who have a condition and won’t have any problems getting through TSA.
upinak on December 28, 2009 at 5:31 PM
I’ll only feel safer when panties have to be removed and put on the conveyor belt.
Or, maybe even safer than that, when waking up to learn that Iran and Yemen were turned into glass.
TXUS on December 28, 2009 at 5:32 PM
Ok all this is exciting but lets not turn it into a drama; let’s frame it for what it is … War.
And just a reminder, dont be an idealist. These prisoners or similar ones, READ GITMO, will likely be freed to fight another day.
Don’t believe me, watch the movie Saving Private Ryan.
There will always exist pacifists.
We must fight back. We attack a Yemen terror cell and they retaliate by nearly killing 180 people.
father on December 28, 2009 at 5:33 PM
How about,when you go through security,you go through
a safe and secure holding room,if you get a red light,
it triggers electrocution,ya,I know there is going to
be a few discomforts until the bugs are worked out of
the system,however,if someone goes up like a roman
candle,then its one less Jihady!!
Remember,its better to be safe,than sorry!!(snark).
canopfor on December 28, 2009 at 5:34 PM
Remember that TSA leak a few weeks back that talked about how they don’t check wheelchairs? I am sure a wheelchair packed with explosives could take down a plane.
Joe Caps on December 28, 2009 at 5:35 PM
But that’s racist, so the Democrats would never let it happen.
The 9/11 attack on one of the WTC towers could have been prevented by the suspicious gate agent at the Portland Jetport, who bowed to PC and let Mohammed Atta and his co-pilot board the connector flight to Boston. He immediately had them pegged, and has been haunted by it ever since.
Del Dolemonte on December 28, 2009 at 5:36 PM
This kind of hard-hitting no-nonsense journalism is what makes America’s media the envy of the world, not to mention a perennial gold mine. The throngs of avid truth seekers hanging on their every word continues to increase every year as their unbiased reporting gets better and better.
Dorvillian on December 28, 2009 at 5:37 PM
Next week I’m on a BA/AA flight to London and then on to Accra, Ghana. First SOB that pulls out a video cam on the plane will be having netflix BMs for the next six weeks.
hip shot on December 28, 2009 at 5:38 PM
Now your talking, it almost sounds like fun.
Cindy Munford on December 28, 2009 at 5:42 PM
Well, Israel is recalling all its ambassadors…does that make you feel any better?
For the first time ever, Israel has called ALL of its ambassadors and consuls home for meetings this week in Jerusalem.
Hmm… Israel Calls ALL Ambassadors Home For Special Meeting in Jerusalem
http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2009/12/hmm-israel-calls-all-ambassadors-home-for-special-meeting-in-jerusalem/
Israel Recalls all of its Ambassadors Worldwide
http://www.eutimes.net/2009/12/israel-recalls-all-of-its-ambassadors-worldwide/
http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/non_aviation/read.main/2166850/
lovingmyUSA on December 28, 2009 at 5:42 PM
I suspect they tape the dry run/test run to determine who/what/how/when/where will intervene or prevent a successful jihad event and then use the video to adjust plans for the next big event.
In each of the recent events on airlines, there were multiple players involved. We’ve read about the active players and instigators . . .not so much about those who were onboard to observe and study the possibilities.
heroyalwhyness on December 28, 2009 at 5:43 PM
Curiouser and curiouser. One of the eyewitness accounts also describes the Indian being arrested and mentions that his luggage was left behind, which strikes me as reckless (but perhaps there’s another explanation – maybe the bags were searched by someone else?)
The same eyewitness concurs that they were moved from one area to another (although he does not speculate about any dire implications about why that was done), and finally he reports that they were returned to the baggage area which by now had bomb sniffing dogs at work:
Soon we were directed back to the baggage claim area and officers started bringing everyone’s luggage on carts. Three officers then appeared with security K-9 dogs and systematically had the dogs sniff all our hand luggage. Apparently over the last few hours all the check in bags had also been meticulously searched. Next up were the interviews…
Buy Danish on December 28, 2009 at 5:43 PM
Well they were landing in Detroit…..
portlandon on December 28, 2009 at 5:45 PM
Dude Semi OT:
AQ leaders behind attacks were released from Guantanamo in 2007.
BadgerHawk on December 28, 2009 at 5:03 PM
Someone better send Randi Rhoads this link. She thinks that no one released from GITMO ever returned to the jihad battlefield.
Gob on December 28, 2009 at 5:45 PM
“It’s like the Special Olympics or something!”
dIb on December 28, 2009 at 5:47 PM
She also thinks that human beings listen to her.
thomasaur on December 28, 2009 at 5:48 PM
Special Olympics? I thought they only did bowling.
/sarc
ORconservative on December 28, 2009 at 5:49 PM
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